old master
Americannoun
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an eminent artist of an earlier period, especially from the 15th to the 18th centuries.
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a work by such an artist.
noun
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one of the great European painters of the period 1500 to 1800
-
a painting by one of these
Etymology
Origin of old master
First recorded in 1945–50
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
His silverware collection is dwarfed by O'Neill's but Hearts do have their own wily old master in the background, with Sir Alex Ferguson offering guidance to McInnes.
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
Brown partnered with Slater, who was as good as his word, improving on the Arkwright model and turning out yarn that his old master in Derbyshire—to whom Slater sent a sample—labeled excellent.
From Barron's ● Jan. 28, 2026
Now that it’s an auction house, the public can walk in free and view a regularly revolving slate of offerings, from rare books to old master paintings to dinosaur skeletons, depending on the sale calendar.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 17, 2025
But we can celebrate now what Bellocchio, a driven old master, has achieved: a heartfelt thriller of intensity and intimacy in which getting saved looks an awful lot like being lost.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2024
Roro Uhoris, the Cobblecat's cranky old master, used to claim that he could tell one port from another just by the way they smelled.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
